


Skulduggery Pleasant: Calm Before The Storm

by Help (Yeehawyeehawyeehaw), Yeehawyeehawyeehaw



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Post-Book 7: Kingdom of the Wicked, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 15,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeehawyeehawyeehaw/pseuds/Help, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeehawyeehawyeehaw/pseuds/Yeehawyeehawyeehaw
Summary: With Argeddion defeated, and Valkyrie Cain's alter ego temporarily subdued, the detective gets time for a break. Or so it seemed.When an assassination turns into a hunt for his parents killer, Liam Scott, a boy new to the world of sorcerers, will have to keep up with the skeleton detective and his partner, as he dives head first into a word of magic and danger.
Relationships: Valkyrie Cain/OriginalCharacter Darquesse/OriginalCharacter
Kudos: 8





	1. S

**Author's Note:**

> Trashy Self insert type thing. I feel like writing. I'm putting a lot of effort in, even though I'm writing most of this late at night while I'm half asleep.

Another week over, two days to appreciate life. Or just a break from the constant barrage of school work. As Liam set his school bag down on the sofa, he heard his parents in a heated row.  
This was becoming more common, and ever since they had both lost their jobs, it was getting worse. They wouldn't include Liam, thankfully, but he wondered if it would have been a good idea to join in, and sort out their issues. He cast the thought aside. That was a problem for post-shower Liam, he thought, climbing the stairs. He didn't smell too good, after a week of being in a small classroom other 17 year olds didn't help him stop smelling.

As he stepped out of the shower, reinvigorated, Liam stopped for a moment to look at himself in the mirror in the corner of his room. Tall, lean, blond hair that looked as though he'd woken up with it as messy as it was, because he did. People would say he had his mother's eyes, a pale blue, almost gray, and he could have sworn that was from Harry Potter or something like that.  
Liam threw on some of the limited clean clothes he had left, a black hoodie, with a white shirt that had a mysterious green stain on the back, black jeans and a hat, which he proceeded to throw back into his wardrobe. Maybe one day he'd suit a hat.

Coming down the stairs, the sounds of his parents arguments growing louder. Frank and Judith Scott both stood on either side of the kitchen, red faced from shouting. They barely noticed Liam as he walked past to get a snack.

"I'm going out. I'll see you later." He gauged their reactions, which normally would be of concern. His mother used to make a fuss when he would leave, yet she didn't seem to realise he was there. His dad was the same, which disheartened him slightly. Liam had always felt a strong bond with his dad, but was seeing less and less of the man he used to know.

"That's just how growing up is, I guess." He said to himself, leaving the house.  
As Liam made his way down the street, he heard panicked shouting, a scream, then silence. It sounded like his parents, and had come from his house.

He sprinted up the front garden, bursting through the door, to find a man standing over a body. The back door had been taking off its hinges, and there was glass everywhere. Another body was slumped in the corner. Why were there three random people in his house?  
The realisation hit Liam like a truck. His parents, they were the bodies. He gasped, and the man turned sharply, and stepped towards him, an arm outstretched, that grabbed Liam. He was lifted up into the air, as the man closed his hand around Liams throat. As he felt his breath leaving him, Liam started to shake, panic setting in. He slapped at the man's arms uselessly, and felt his hand close around a large piece of glass, which had been embedded in the man's back.  
Liam tore it out, and stabbed at the man, making contact, and causing him to be dropped. As he got on one knee, gasping desperately for air, the man splayed his hands out, and Liam felt himself fly backwards, as if the air around him had become a solid object, and had shoved him. He heard a crack, the sound of his head hitting the wall, and then his vision went dark.


	2. H

Valkyrie Cain was getting awfully sick of murders. Always the same thing, a mess of a room, corpses on the floor, things in plastic bags, Skulduggery telling her how to observe things and use deduction, like she was supposed to be Sherlock or something. What she hated even more, was when the family was present.  
This was one of those situations.

She had left Skulduggery inside the house to sort out the detective side of things, while she made herself useful being the only sympathetic person around. The kid was cute, about her age, maybe a little younger, about the same height as Skulduggery, and not far off the same build. He'd had a concussion, and a bruised windpipe, but most of the damage was psychological. Valkyrie had seen first hand the effects of seeing her family die in front of her, and that hadn't even happened yet, not that it would, she kept telling herself.  
She sat next to him on the curb outside his house, and tried to seem personable.

"Hi. Its Liam, right?" The response was a curt nod, which was to be expected.

"I would say I'm sorry and all that, but you probably don't want to hear it."

"No, not particularly." He looked like he was still in shock, which again, made sense. Valkyrie looked down at his clenched fists, shaking in his lap.

"I just, I couldn't do anything. The guy was there, I saw his face. But I couldn't stop him." A few tears dropped onto his hands, as he unclenched his fists, and turned to face Valkyrie, his face red, on the verge of a breakdown it looked, so being an empathetic person, she pulled him into a hug.

Valkyrie pulled away from Liam, hoping her face wasn't visibly red.

"I don't normally do that with strangers, in case you get any weird ideas." She explained, and he looked embarrassed.

"No, I know. Thank you." He stood, wiping his face.

"That was an interesting little interaction." The smooth, velvety voice of Skulduggery Pleasant rang out, and Liam jumped, spinning and catching Skulduggery in the jaw.  
Liam appeared more injured than Skulduggery as he held his hand, stepping back.

"Thank you for that. Not often I get punched by the victim of a crime. Makes a nice change." He looked to Valkyrie.

"Apologies for the interruption, but we have a lead." She could see his judgemental expression. It was weird seeing Skulduggery with facial expressions on his facade.  
He turned to Liam, and stuck out a hand,

"Detective Inspector Me. I'll be handling the case. Of your parents murder, of course. Unless you're caught up in any other murders I'd want to know about?" Liam looked confused, and slightly offended, but shook his hand.

"You seem like a capable young fellow, I'm sure you'll be alright on your own from here. Goodbye." Skulduggery turned in his heel and walked off, Valkyrie following behind.

"Sometimes I wonder if you feel any emotions. His parents have just been killed, he's just been attacked, and you joke about him being a murderer? Christ Skulduggery." Valkyrie shook her head,

"And anyway, we can't just leave him for the Guards, they'll thinks he's insane, talking about being flung around by the air. Unless we can get Scrutinous in, we should probably take him with us, for now."

"You have a point," Skulduggery considered the option,

"I was going to take him with us. He'll need to come to the sanctuary. I was actually making a joke, as rare as that is. It's almost like you've been doing this for years, and know by now that we have to take any witnesses with us. So go get him, and make sure he doesn't throw up in the car." He continued on to the Bentley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep


	3. I

Liam sat in the back seat, feeling awkward as the detectives in the front bantered back and forth. This wasn't how he pictured his day. The girl, Stephanie, her name was, seemed normal enough, about his age, tall and pretty with dark hair. Then there was Inspector Me, a very strange man. He seemed too skinny, and his face was odd. Not that it really mattered, since he would probably never see them again afterwards. After all, he was the only one at the scene, and had blood on his hands, so the evidence seemed to point to him.

"Before you worry too much, you're not a suspect. We have a good idea who the killer is. This wasn't his first attack." Inspector Me seemed to almost read his mind.

"We're going to visit him now actually. I thought it would be good for you to arrest him yourself. A little bit of character building. You can always give him a good few whacks too."

What a very strange man indeed, Liam thought, as he watched the two step up to the front door of a dilapidated house, on the end of a street that probably hadn't been lived in for a few decades. Inspector Me called out, tried the door handle, and then went with the option of kicking the door down. Him and Stephanie entered, and 30 seconds later, she went flying out of a window on the second floor. Liam gasped as he watched the man hit the ground, get up with a groan saw Liam, swore, and ran back into the house. Next came Inspector Me, who held out his hands, and almost seemed to float for a second, before hitting the ground, a lot more gracefully than Stephanie. He ran back in too.

Liam saw Stephanie walk back out, her hair ruffled and looking a bit worse for wear.

"We've got him, if you want to have a word."  
Liam was going to ask about the floating, but was more focused on seeing his parents murderer. He stepped into the room with a man kneeling, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Who is this?" Liam questioned.

"The man who killed your parents and assaulted you." The Inspector replied.

"You have the wrong man, I've never seen this guy in my life." Inspector Me visibly deflated.

"You mean I just beat this guy up for him to be innocent? What a waste of time." He kicked the guy over, who complained a lot through his gag, which appeared to be a dirty sock.

"Well, it may not have been entirely in vain. Look, the guy has a gun on the floor." Liam pointed at a revolver.

"That's my gun, Liam." The Inspector pointed out, as Stephanie tried not to laugh.

"Nice try though. But.. He did immediately start fighting us.. So.."

"That's because you kicked in my front door and waved a gun at me. What else am I supposed to do?" The man had been untied, and started shouting about how he was going to tell something called the Council about this gross misconduct, and proceeded to receive a boot in the mouth courtesy of Stephanie. As they got back into the Bentley, Liam asked Stephanie about what he had seen.

"You were floating for a second, like you could control the air. Like the guy who, who.." Liam stopped, and stared at Stephanie, as a look if fear crept onto his face.

"You're not.. working with him.. are you?" This prompted a laugh From Inspector Me. "No, we very infrequently work with assassins, and even then they're usually the nice ones, not that there are many."

"Wait, you said assassins. Does that mean, my parents were assassinated? That doesn't make any sense. Who would want them dead? " Liam couldn't believe it.

"Your parents were important people, just in circles you wouldn't know about. I'm not entirely sure why, but your parents hid things from you. Valkyrie, if you wouldn't mind, go explain it all to him, I have some thinking to do." Liam heard a sigh, and Stephanie, or Valkyrie, as Inspector Me had called her, slipped into the back seat, uncomfortably close to Liam.

"So as you heard, my name is actually Valkryie Cain, and he's Skulduggery Pleasant. We are detectives, but we're sorcerer detectives."

"What?"

"We do magic basically. Your parents were sorcerers too, but neglected to tell you that fact, for whatever reason. They were important people, and likely the targets of assassination attempts before this time." What Liam got out of all that, was that they did magic.

"What?" Liam said again. He suddenly saw a flicker of light, and Valkyrie had a flame in her hand. She quickly extinguished it, and made another flame.

" See? I'm not joking or psyching you out. I do magic. Anyway, the weirder stuff is yet to come." Liam sat, staring forwards, feeling himself beginning to hyperventilate.

"Weird is an understatement. After all, I'm a skeleton! BOO!" He looked up to see Skulduggery, staring at him, but there was just a skull under his hat. A skeleton was in the drivers seat. For the second time that day, Liam passed out.


	4. T

Valkyrie laughed as Liam slumped backwards, passing out from shock. She knew the feeling, she had fainted the first time she had seen Skulduggery as a skeleton, but it was funny, nonetheless. As they reached Skulduggerys house, Valkyrie slipped back into the front. She got out the car, and grabbed Liam, throwing him over her shoulder. He was surprising light.  
She walked into the house with Liam, and placed him gently down on her bed Skulduggery had had placed there for when Valkyrie visited.

He looked peaceful in his sleep, no bad dreams from the trauma, unlike herself, who barely had a silent night. And even as she thought that, Liam began to stir, as if sensing her thoughts, and it became clear he was having a nightmare. Normally she would have given anything for someone to be there while she had a nightmare, so Valkyrie decided to help Liam out. She cambered onto the bed, and just sat next to him, which seemed to calm him down slightly.  
She felt arms grab her, and wrap around her. He had instinctually hugged her, pulling Valkyrie close, for a tight hug. She tried to pull away, and eventually escaped his embrace.

"So if you're quite finished with your new little boyfriend, Valkyrie, I have a lead." At the comment made, Liam woke.

"What happened.. You.. You're a s..sk..ske" He couldn't finish his sentence, and Skulduggery interjected,

"I am a skeleton. A corpse. A walking talking bag of bones. Very surprising I know." He didn't sound amused like usual, and Valkyrie could have sworn she heard the scorn in his voice. She was confused. Skulduggery normally didn't tease act so blatantly rude to people immediately, but heseemed keen to take the piss out of Liam.

"Are you jealous of Liam? Really?" Valkyrie asked once they were out of earshot,

"No. I just saw the way you were eyeing him up. Don't let this be another Fletcher situation. Just being the concerned parent. Also, yes, maybe I am slightly jealous, now that I'm not the only man in your life." Valkyrie scoffed,

"You realise I've known him for about two hours, half of which he was unconscious and drooling for. He's not exactly the main man in my life."

"Sure, well don't complain to me when he gets a girlfriend. I used to have a face like that. I could have gotten any girl I wanted. Not that I cared much about that.." As Skulduggery continued his reminiscing, Valkyrie went back to Liam. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a bit disorientated, to be honest." "Makes sense. Do you remember what happened today?"

"Yeah.. Are you really a wizard?" "Well, the term is sorcerer, but yes." Valkyrie produced a flame,

"Does that not hurt? Your hand is on fire." Liam questioned, and Valkyrie shrugged. She had never considered why it didn't hurt her. She just assumed it was how it worked.

"You said my parents were sorcerers, does that mean I could do magic too?"

"Probably. I don't know, it's rare, but it can skip a generation."

"Oh.. Ok." Liam clicked, trying to produce a flame.

"You can't just click, you have to think about it." Valkyrie went through the steps she had been taught by Skulduggery when she was 12.

"Fire's not really a good one to start with. Try air. Just feel yourself pushing the air, and try to move that pencil." Valkyrie pointed to a pencil on the table next to the bed. Try as he might, Liam couldn't get anything to work.

"Don't worry too much. It took me weeks to even move a paperclip. You might still be magic."

"I doubt it. But it's fine. I probably won't need to do magic."

"Thats where you're wrong." Valkyrie nearly shit herself, as Skulduggery interrupted the conversation again.

"Could you just like wear a bell or something, or maybe announce when you enter a room?"

"That removes all the fun of scaring you. Anyway," He turned his head towards Liam,

"Your parents were high profile, I knew if the two, and trust me when I say this, you will need help. The guy who killed them, he was paid. Somebody wanted them dead, and by extension, you. Its fairly likely you'll be next. So learning to defend yourself would be handy. I fought alongside your parents during the war. They were good people. It's quite a shame. " Liam whispered in Valkyries ear,

"What war? Does he mean like in Afghanistan or something?" Which made her redden a little, but Valkyrie steeled herself, as he put his face near hers.

"Valkyrie, please explain my entire backstory. I have more detective stuff to be doing. Like detectiving."

"That's not a word."

"It is. I would know. I'm a detective."


	5. B

Liam sat, mouth agape, as he processed all of the new information."

So.. The skeleton man,"

"Skulduggery." Valkyrie corrected him.

"Yeah, Skulduggery. Hes four hundred years old? How old are you, like 50?"  
Valkyrie laughed.

"Not quite. I'm only just 18. Although I'll only start to look a bit older once I am 50."

"Okay. And there was this like century long War, that ended in the 30s or thereabouts?"  
Valkyrie nodded, and Liam laid back, looking up to the ceiling.

"You know how crazy this all sounds, right?"  
He received a nod, and swore, sitting up.  
"Can you teach me to fight. Like Skulduggery said?" Valkyrie looked tacken aback, which made Liam feel a bit awkward.

"I mean, only if you wanted to." He said, a bit sheepish now.

"No no.. Its fine. I just wasn't expecting you to be so keen to get in on the action."

"Well, my parents were murdered. Surely you'd want.. Maybe not revenge, but to at least catch them, right?"

"Well yeah, but I'm quite a violent person. You can still stay out of this."

"Not really. I know about all this stuff now, and I'm not forgetting about my parents."

Valkyrie sighed, and stood, walking to the door.

"Come on then. I'll do my best, but I'm not quite the right person to teach you." Liam practically jumped off of the bed, and hurried over to her.

They went into the garden, which was deceptively large, considering how small the actual house was in proportion.

"I'll start with the basics. Learning how to take hits, before you dish them out." Liams genuine concern on his face made Valkyrie laugh.

"Don't worry. I won't hit you too hard."

"Oh OK. I was worried you'd just.." He felt the blow before he had seen it, and hit the ground, clutching his cheek.

"Oh come on, I didn't even hit you that hard." She grabbed his arm and hauled him up.

"In a proper fight, if that happened, you would be dead. We'll do that again. This time, I want you to roll back with the punch, let yourself fall, but make it smooth, like you meant to do it. Here, let me show you. Punch me."

"What? I can't just.."

"Oh don't be a twat about it. I hit you, hit me back."

Liam threw a weak punch, which barely even tickled Valkyrie.

"Okay, actually do it or I'm giving up on you."  
Liam sighed, and punched her. Not too hard, but with force. He watched as Valkyrie dropped back, allowing herself to roll backwards, using the momentum of the blow to power her.

She sprang up, looking generally unaffected.

" See? It's easy. Let's try again. 3, 2, 1." As she said one, she punched Liam again, who fell backwards again, tried going into a roll, and got stuck halfway. He was now upside down, with his legs in the air.

"Help." He squeaked, as he heard Valkyrie laugh.  
He felt her push him over, and he thudded onto the ground.

"Well, it wasn't entirey wrong. You just have to get the roll." Liam nodded, as he slowly got back up.

After a solid two hours of Valkyrie beating the shit out of Liam, he collapsed onto the bed, ready to sleep.

"No way Jose. You're not stopping yet. You still need to practise magic."  
Liam rolled, and looked up at her. Valkyrie glared down at him, and he got up. She was very intimidated when she wanted to be.

By the end of the next two hours, he was close to getting in control of the air. He could sense it now, just in the house, faintly, and as long as he was entirely focused, but it was there. He couldn't control it yet, but maybe after a few weeks worth of practise he'd be able to make a draft.

"Well that's not terrible. Its fairly likely you'll pick it up quickly, as your parents were both quite good, from what I've heard, so don't worry too much. It takes a while to even get decent."  
He nodded, and just as he was about to take a rest, Valkyrie hauled him along with her and Skulduggery into the Bentley. As he sat in the backseat, barely paying attention to what they were saying, he dozed off.


	6. E

"Valkyrie, can you go make sure Liam doesn't drool on the leather."

Valkyrie sighed, and clambered into the back.  
"Why am I constantly on babysitting duty?"

"Because you're the one who's exposed to a baby the most. And you're not driving the Bentley."

They dove on in silence to Roarhaven, and Valkyrie just watched Liam sleeping.

" _Look at how cute he is sleeping there. Doesn't that just make you want to kill him? _"__ She heard the voice in her head say. Darquesse was being vocal again, as was becoming the norm lately.

"No. Usually, cuteness doesnt inspire murderous feeling in me." She heard a laugh within her own head.

" _Maybe not, but you can't deny, that adorable face is inspiring something within you isnt it?_ " Valkyrie sighed.

"Just because he's really cute, and nice, my age, and not trying to kill me, doesn't mean I want to boink him." This prompted another laugh.

" _Oh come off it. Under any other circumstance you'd have already tried chatting him up. Accept that you're attracted and do something about it."_

"Well you're not exactly the most appropriate wingman are you, considering how you just talked about wanting to kill him."

" _That's only because it's how you see me. And I don't want to dissapoint. Also, as a version of you, I'd like to say that I know you well. So I am the greatest wingman you could hope for._ "

Valkyrie audibly sighed, and ignored Darquesse's continued attempts to start communication. The car stopped, and Liam slumped forwards in his seat, held in place by the seat belt. He jerked awake, and looked around, confusion on his face.

"Good morning sleeping beauty. We're at the sanctuary."

"What are we doing here?"

"We're taking you to Sanctuary sensitives to see what exactly happened, and figure out who the murderer is this time." Liam nodded, and got out, stumbling slightly, and nearly fell, as Valkyrie caught him.

"You are completely useless, you know that? If it weren't for me, your knight in shining armour, you'd probably be dead by now." Liam smiled sheepishly at her, an expression that Valkyrie couldn't get over. Caelan was hot, like some kind of aloof supermodel, Fletcher was cute, like the friends older brother in college, but Liam was the kind of guy she'd do anything to protect. That smile, it made her stomach do flips.

Liams face went red, and he looked at the ground, and Valkyrie went slightly red too, as she realised she'd been staring at him for too long with a goofy expression on her face. She steeled herself once again, and returned to the intimidated saviour of the world, rather than weak minded teenage girl who loses her cool over a cute guy.

Liam was sat in a chair, with two men poking around in his memories, which they had managed to rig up onto a computer monitor, using some form of magic Valkyrie had no clue about. It began with Valkyrie, her staring at him, then beating him up and then hugging him. Valkyrie felt herself blush, as he had been staring at her so much. Finally, the scene returned to his house, where eventually it went blank. Suddenly, the screen was playing back the events of the morning before.

**Liam had just left his house, when he heard the scream, and ran back in. A man stood in the kitchen, with a over Liams parents. He choked Liam, lifting him into the air, until Liam stabbed him with a shard of glass. He dropped, and was sent flying into the wall by the air.**

The vision made Valkyrie wince, as she heard the crunch of Liam hitting the wall. Looking back into the room, he was sat, on the verge of tears as he had to reenact a traumatising event. Skulduggery stood still, continuing to be silent, which was unusual for him. He had been a little bit off for the past week, but maybe he was just in one of those moods. 

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked Liam, as he walked up to the her.

"Yeah.. I'm managing. Its tough, you know. Having to relive that."

"I get it. But Skulduggerys got a lead. He reckons he knows this guy, a man named something Obdurate. I've never heard of him, he was a hitman during the war. He hasn't been seen since. As far as we are aware, this was his first hit in over 100 years. However, one minor issue is that legally, he died 100 years ago. " 


	7. H

"So he should be dead, but he's not."

"No. It doesn't seem like it."

"Couldn't he be like a zombie or something?"

"Zombies can't do magic. And they're not coordinated in anyway. Trust me."

Liam was sat in the backseat of the Bentley with Valkyrie sat next to him. 

"So.. Skulduggery. When you killed, what was his name again, Obsolete?"

"Obdurate. I shot him. Right between the eyes. The likelihood of him coming back to life on his own, is practically nill. He was a good fighter, but his magic abilities were amateur at best. He's had some form of intervention. I'm not entirely sure who could bring someone back to life from brain death, but whoever this person is, we should be worried." Liam felt himself nodding along to Skulduggery.

"So how are we going to find him?"

"I'm afraid to say, this is one of the few cases where we can't just find him. Rare as it is, there are some people who can just go off the grid entirely, Obdurate being one of them."

"So what you're saying is we can't find him. He'll come to us, otherwise we're boned?"

"Pretty much."

"Well that sucks. Well just have to be a bit paranoid for a while then." Skulduggery nodded, quickly delving back into his thoughts. Valkyrie sighed, and turned back to Liam. 

"Skulduggerys normally a lot more talkative than this. I don't quite gets what's happened to him, but it's weird either way."

"I mean, I wouldn't know either way, so it doesn't seem that weird to me."

Valkyrie leaned in close to Liam, so that Skulduggery couldn't hear what she said, which got another blush out of Liam. That was happening a lot. 

"Just between you and me, I think he might be jealous of you."

"Thats ridiculous. I've known you for what.. Two days? I've spent half of that unconscious and the other half getting beaten up or insulted. He's known you for years. How would I compare?"

"You're her age, and definitely in her demographic. I'm not jealous. Just rightfully concerned about my daughter."

Liam looked to Valkyrie, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"He's your dad?"

"No no no.." Valkyrie laughed, it was cute, and her one dimple was visible when she laughed.

"It's a joke. That he's like my irresponsible, terrible father figure."

"I'll have you know, I'm a brilliant father figure. I had a child, that was awfully good at being a child."

"What happened?" Liam blurted out, without thinking. Valkyrie hadn't mentioned the fact that Skulduggery had had a family.

"Both my wife, and my child were murdered. It was Nefarian Serpine. If you were paying attention in class, you'd know that Serpine killed me, and he also killed my family. That's why I came back, in the excellently suave and distinguished form you see before yourself today."

Liam reddened, and nodded, feeling instantly stupid for asking something like that with so little thought. Skulduggery carried it of with jokes, but Liam could tell by his tone, that he wasn't really in a jokey mood.

They got back to the house, as there was no point in going anywhere else while they waited. 

"Do you live here?" Liam questioned Valkyrie, who shook her head.

"No, but when we're on long missions I'll stay here. I do have a family, who don't know about magic. But I like it here. Home away from home, I guess."

"that makes sense. Well.." Liam yawned, stretching his arms up, recoiling slightly as his hand slapped the ceiling. This got a laugh out of Valkyrie.

"I'm gonna go to sleep. I'm knackered."

"It's only 8."

"Well I am slightly traumatised, both physically and mentally. So I'll be going to sleep now, if you don't mind." Liam crawled into the bed in Valkyries room.

"Well, goodnight. Watch out for the nightmares. They happen a lot once you get into this stuff. Anyway, night." She left, and Liam slowly drifted off, not before hearing faintly just on the other side of the door,

"Do you think he'd mind if I slept next to him?" 


	8. I

Valkyrie opened her eyes, and saw Liam staring directly at her, face red, mouth open. She yawned, and smiled at him, her mind still not quite awake.

She then felt how close he was, and that they both had their arms around each other. She'd gotten into bed with him, after decided that there was no way she'd sleep on the couch. Plus, she couldn't be bothered to kick Liam out, after he had fallen asleep. He'd earnt a rest. What Valkyrie hadn't really thought about in her half asleep thoughts the night before, was that she'd often wake up hugging tightly onto a pillow, as she reached out for any comfort during the nightmares. 

Liam had been trapped, and obviously hugged back, unintentionally. It was very awkward, but Valkyrie didn't register this, and shut her eyes again, as she groaned something like,

"Five more minutes." and snuggled into her pillow, which just so happened to actually be Liam. He just laid very still, clearly unsure how to proceed. Valkyrie didn't notice, still far too groggy to contemplate any of what was happening.

She wrapped her legs around the pillow, which was about the same length as her. A body pillow, thats what they called them, she thought. Valkyrie had always wanted one, but it would have been a fairly suspicious order. This was a nice one, it was warm and soft.

Wait. Valkyrie didn't have a body pillow. The pillow was a person. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw the person was Liam, who looked both very happy and quite uncomfortable. Valkyrie flushed, going nearly as red as Liam. She slowly prised herself off of him, and turned, quickly standing up, and exiting the room.

She sat at the table, and buried her head in her hands. Skulduggery sat on the chair opposite, and cleared his throat. 

"What's wrong with you now. It looks like you've made a world ending mistake."

Just as he finished, Liam exited the bedroom, looking red, and Valkyrie accidentally made eye contact with him, and Liam looked away quickly, darting off into the bathroom. She looked back at Skulduggery, and could almost see the shit eating grin on his expressionless skull.

"Anything you want to tell me about anything you two did last night?"

"No. I... _We_ didnt do anything. Nothing happened. Don't worry about it."

"It's alright Valkyrie. You don't have to worry. These are dark, lonely times. I won't judge you. He is quite good looking too, but worry not. I won't mention it again."

"No. Stop. Please. We didn't do that. I... I just woke up and I was hugging him, okay? Just leave it at that." Valkyrie sighed.

"Okay. Just 'hugging'. " Skulduggery used Air quotes, an implication that started to tick Valkyrie off.

Liam walked back out of the bathroom, his cheeks still visibly red, but less extreme. He sat at the table, and forced a smile. 

"So, what's on the agenda today?"

"Nothing. Depressingly, we'll have to remain like this until he gets in contact. It could be tomorrow, or we could have to wait months. You won't be doing much going outside, though, since you're still a target. I, however, have a highly important, top secret task that needs addressing, which will see me gone for about a week. Valkyrie," Skulduggery turned to her.

"I'm putting you on baby sitting duty. If anything happens, you know what to do. Phone if it's desperate. Don't spend too much of my money. I don't really need it, but having a 6 figure bank account is a pleasant sight. " He stood, and with that, Skulduggery Pleasant was gone, and the only sound Valkyrie heard for the next ten minutes was the sound of the Bentley start up, and roar off into the distance.

"So.. Um. About earlier, I didn't, I wasn't.." Liam stuttered, and Valkyrie shook her head.

"I wouldnt worry about it. It happened, it was an accident, don't bring it up again."

"But I, I wanted to.." She interrupted him,

"I said don't bring it up again." She almost glared at Liam, her embarrassment far outweighing her sympathy for him, as he hung his head, the mood awkward again.

Valkyrie decided to distract herself, by heading into the garden, dragging Liam along, to continue his training. This time, she wanted to hit something, pissed off about Skulduggerys insistent comments earlier. She felt a bit guilty about using Liam as a punching bag, but it was doing him good too, although maybe not that much good.

She didn't think about this though, and decided to see where he was at in terms of self defence on his own. 

"Okay, so I'll attack you, slowly. And you need to stop me. Go." She said, and swung a slow punch at Liam, which he dodged, and Valkyrie followed it up with a kick, that he slapped out of the way. Sloppy, but his reactions weren't terrible. She feinted a punch, and went to slam an elbow into his face, which she realised too late, was full power and full speed.

Much to her surprise, and clearly Liams too, judging by his expression, he grabbed her arm, and using her momentum, threw her over his shoulder. Valkyrie couldnt have even done anything about it, but was so shocked by his sudden defence, she wouldn't have reacted either way, and hit the ground. 

"What was that?" She muttered, slowly standing and brushing herself off. 

"I, I don't know. I just sort of felt myself do it. Like muscle memory. But I've never been in a fight. I've never, I've never even trained before." As Liam stood, confusion on his face, Valkyrie punched, hitting him in the gut. Winded, he stepped back, as she swept his legs out from under him, and went to punch him again, as Liam cowered on the ground hands up in surrender. 

"Oh come on. You just flipped me over, and now you're cowering. Get up you useless git." 


	9. T

It had been almost a week since Skulduggery had left, and true to his word, there had been no sign of him. Liam had been battered the entire time, Valkyrie training him, and training him hard. 

Liam sat on the couch, resting after another several hour beat up Liam session. He had bruises all over, had dislocated his shoulder from when they were practising throws, and Valkyrie had slammed him into the ground too hard. Liam wondered whether this was all just as much a way of Valkyrie learning to limit herself, as it was Liam learning to fight.

Valkyrie plopped down next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. They had become good friends over just one week. Getting beat up really helped bonding. Liam had been sleeping on the couch, after the hugging fiasco. 

He looked at Valkyries face, as she had shut her eyes. His brand new, terrifying and powerful friend. Did he have a crush on her? No, absolutely not no no no, definitely maybe, possibly.. Okay yes. But what kind of teenage boy would he be, if the attractive girl who was funny and strong (and by the way, did he mention really cute?) who he was bonding with, managed to get him interested. A bad one. She was the first girl he'd really been friends with, and it was weird.

Liam couldn't tell if she was attracted to him too, or just liked him as a friend. Sometimes he thought she treated him like a child, but then again, to her, he pretty much was. Liam didn't dare say any of this out loud. It would make him seem like an idiot. A desperate, self pitying idiot. He just didn't bother making a move at all. 

He yawned, once again tired from the training. He hadn't even gotten onto the magic but he was getting better every day. Just yesterday, he'd managed to make a small gust, enough that Valkyrie could feel it, so she said. 

Liam felt his eyes close, and be drifted off into sleep, unaware that Valkyrie was still next to him. 

_He opened his eyes. He was in his living room. Christmas day, a few years ago at least, seeing as how there hadn't been snow for a few years at Christmas. His parents were laughing, joking and chatting, while he dug into his presents. This was the last holiday where it had all been normal. Before the Sanctuary had been destroyed, which he had found out about later. Liam turned, and suddenly it wasn't Christmas anymore, and he was taller, older. It was Liam in the present day. He looked into the kitchen. His parents lay dead on the floor. It was the dream again, his parents murder. Constantly, it played back in his mind during sleep. This time, as he walked slowly forward, it changed again. He was suddenly in a field. This was new. Liam looked down, his arms were bigger, muscled, and he felt older, bigger. Liam looked around, the field was dead, the small patches of grass dead, and most of the ground hard dry mud. The sky was dark, as if it would rain, the world blanketed in clouds. He saw in front of him a figure, imposing, at least 8 feet tall. It turned, and Liam saw its face, it reached out to touch him, and_

he screamed, suddenly sitting upright. Valkyrie came rushing in from another room, as Liam sat, heart pounding in his chest, hands shaking. He felt tears roll down his cheeks. The nightmares had been unpleasant, but this. This was new, and terrifying. The figure, whatever it was, when it touched Liam, he felt pain like he'd never experienced before.

Valkyrie knelt in front of him, and grabbed both his hands, holding then gently in hers. 

"You're alright. It's OK now. Your safe." She pulled him into a hug, and Liam sobbed into her shoulder. It wasn't so much the dream that caused this reaction. What caused it was the fact that the pain he had felt was real. The figure, it wasn't just in a dream, it was in his head.


	10. T

Skulduggery still wasn't back, and Valkyrie was getting concerned. Liam's nightmare, from what he'd told her, was more like a vision than a dream. Was he possibly a sensitive? Probably not. It seemed like whatever the figure was, it was sending a message. Valkyrie wasn't sure what, but it was important whatever it was.

Liam was still shaking, sitting at the table. He'd experience true terror. Legitimate fear, not just getting freaked out by a movie, or from sounds in the dark, but actually fearing for his life. He wasn't coping well. With both his parents murdered and having a dream like that, it wasn't going well for Liam. Valkyrie tried to comfort him, but she wasn't a particularly good person for reassurance.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liam nodded, still staring at the table, as he had been for the past half an hour.

"I'd say, judging by the shaking and the fact that you haven't moved, you're not. C'mon, let's go take your mind off it." Liam slowly stood, and Valkyrie grabbed his hand.

"Valkyrie. I'm, I'm scared." He confessed, and Valkyrie gave him her best reassuring smile.

"I know. But you're safe. I've saved the world plenty of times. I won't let anything that bad happen. Maybe you getting beat up slightly. I'm not a miracle worker." That got a chuckle out of Liam. Good. He was cheering up.

They got back out into the garden, and Valkyrie decided to take it easier on him. He was advancing quite rapidly, almost as if this was natural for him. He was improving faster than Valkyrie had, although she was only 12 when she started.

Once again, as Valkyrie stopped paying attention momentarily, she found herself flipping over. He'd used the throw again, and Liam was getting quite good at it. He could take a few punches now before bowing out. Soon, he'd be able to actually hold his own against someone in a fight. Maybe even not lose, if he got lucky.

Even in magic, Liam was getting better quite quickly. He'd made a small gust, that had actually moved her hair slightly. At first she thought it was Liam accidentally blowing out during concentration, but then he did it again. Just like with fighting, given a couple of weeks, and he'd be able to push small things over. Maybe even make a small spark. Valkyrie felt like a proud mother, as her son slowly progressed.

She could tell Liam was getting bored, and as enjoyable as her company and the training was, nothing at all was happening. Valkyrie decided to take Liam out. The vision he'd had was a bit worrying, and he wouldn't be able to rely on just magic and his training. Valkyrie would have to play Skulduggerys role for now, so first stop was Finbar, to see if it really was a vision.

"Hey, Valkyrie. Didn't Skulduggery say to not leave the house?" Liam stopped at the door, as Valkyrie walked out.

"It's very rare that I listen to what he says. Rarer still, the time I'll actually do it. We're going to have to prepare for what's coming." Liam shrugged, and followed her. She got in her car, and as Liam strapped in, she took off.

"So, what's the destination. I assume we're not just going out for the sake of it."

"Nope. You remember what I told you about Sensitives? Like psychics. We're going to see one of them. Finbar Wrong. He's trustworthy, and slightly, well actually extremely weird."

They turned up at the tattoo shop, and went straight in. It was empty, other than Finbar, sitting on the chair, absentmindedly doodling a cat onto a piece of paper. He turned as he heard them enter.

"Hi Valkyrie. Woah. What happened to the Skull Man, he's like, young again. Did you get reborn or something?"

"No, this isn't Skulduggery. Hes away. This is Liam. Say hi Liam."

"Hi Liam." Finbar interrupted, before Liam got a chance to speak.

"So what brings you to my shop. You want a tattoo?"

"No, sorry Finbar. But I've got a big favour to ask. I know you've been having some, problems, with you power, but we really need you to do this."

"Well.. OK. But only because Skullman has finally followed my dress sense. I'm a real trendsetter, you know? As cool as suits are, hoodies and jeans are way more hip now. No offence."

"Uh.. None taken." Liam looked confused.

"Woah, even his voice is younger. Nice. So anyway, what did you want me for?"

"A vision. Liam had a vision. Well, it was more like a dream, but we need you to see if anything happens. I know you're sort of not doing that anymore, but just try, OK?"

He nodded, but didn't seem pleased about it. Valkyrie saw his face screw up in concentration, and suddenly he stiffened, the slumped over.

"Finbar, hey Finbar, are you alright?". Valkyrie grabbed him before he fell.

"Yeah. I'm OK. Its just, that was a quick one. I only saw a snippet, but that was wild.". He explained what he saw. Liam standing in a field, just like Liam had described in his dream, with a huge figure in front of him. Valkyrie was there too, running to Liam, shouting. It was too late, the man touched Liams head, and he crumpled. Then the vision ended.

"Is watch out, that big guy looks awful scary. Let's just hope he's like, patting you in the head or something." Valkyrie nodded, as Liam looked at the ground, pale.

"Well, thanks Finbar. Hopefully you get back to normal soon."

He waved as they left the shop. 

"Well that's not good. That vision, it looks very apocalypse-esque."

"Just another day for Valkyrie Cain." She thought out loud. 

"What?" 

"What?" 


	11. I

As Liam sat on the car, on the way to the Sanctuary, Valkyrie kept attempting to make small talk. Liam was quite occupied, mentally. He kept replaying the words Finbar spoke in his mind, Liam imagination showing him the images of what happened.

They reached the Sanctuary, and Liam re-emerged from his thoughts. Valkyrie strode through, Liam scurrying behind, feeling uncomfortable. They got to the Council room, where a man Liam recognised as Tipstaff stopped them.

"Do you have an appointment? I can't let you go any further unless you have an appointment."

"We're here to see Ghas... Elder Bespoke."

"Well he is currently busy. You'll have to wait."

"Well that's just a blatant lie isn't it, Tipstaff." Spoke a man stood behind him. He was tall, and broad, built like a boxer, and most identifying, had symmetrical scars covering his face. Ghastly Bespoke.

"My apologies Elder Bespoke." Tipstaff hurried away.

"Its good to see you Valkyrie. Where's Skulduggery?" Liam was being ignored, which was fair enough.

"Oh, I don't really know. He left about a week ago, and said he'd be back about now. I'm not quite sure where he's gone." Ghastly cracked a smile.

"That sounds about right. Before you came along, Skulduggery would dissappear for months on end. He must be getting back into it. Who's this." Ghastly finally turned to Liam.

"That's Liam. He's a newbie. We found him on the most recent case, and he's helping. It was his parents, the victims of the double murder."

Ghastly nodded.

"I heard about that. News travels in here. Not particularly fast, but it travels."

"Well, I've got a favour to ask. I know you're busy with being an Elder."

"Which is boring as sin."

"Yeah. So that's why, well, basically. Liam here's had a vision. Another apocalypse type thing. It's not too far away, and since he's terrible at fighting and magic." Liam visibly deflated as she said that, but Valkyrie continued.

"He'll need some sort of protection. Could you make him some clothes, sort of like mine?"

"Thank you." Valkyrie looked taken aback by the response.

"I've needed something to do for months. I don't have any need to make clothes for anyone, so I've just been making stuff for the wake of it. I'll take a commission. Walk with me. Explain what you want." He turned, and they began to walk.

"Well, I'd like something sort of similar to Valkyries, I guess. But not quite. More sort of, what's the word, less casual? Her clothes are like, jacket and jeans. Im thinking of something more.. more."

"Tactical. I get you. It may not be war, but you'll be fighting. Its probably more suitable than Valkyries." They got to Ghastlys room.

"I've got some designs you could choose from."

They got in, and Ghastly laid out three different types. A jacket, like Valkyries. A tactical jacket, the sort of thing he'd see a military wear, and a coat. There were also jeans, like Valkyries, or tactical trousers, which fit with the jacket. Liam chose the tactical gear.

"I thought those would be best. I'll assume you want the full gear? Gloves, boots, mask?" Liam nodded. He was genuinely excited. This was like when he would play Call of Duty, and he got to select the different loud outs. He always thought the clothes were so cool. But in real life they were expensive.

"These should keep you warm in the cold, and cool in the heat. They'll be bullet-proof and waterproof, like Valkyries. What colour do you want?"

Liam thought about it for a bit, then spotted a piece of fabric on a desk. It was navy blue, but so dark, if it weren't so bright, he'd have though it was black.

"Something like that colour." He pointed, and Ghaalty nodded.

"Good. I was almost expecting you to say lime green. It's never happened, and I'm just waiting for the day." He chuckled to himself.

"I should have this ready within a few weeks, since I have other duties to take care of. Dont get into too much trouble in the mean time. I'll see you later Valkyrie. It was nice meeting you Liam."

They waved goodbye, and left the Sanctuary. 

"That went well. Now I know I'm part of the apocalypse, and I have upgraded my fashion."

Valkyrie laughed, as she drove back to Skulduggerys house. Liam didn't recognise the route, as he'd been unconscious when they went there the first time. As they rounded a corner, Liam heard a crunch, and felt himself fly forwards, slamming into the dashboard. Everything went black. 


	12. N

Valkyries eyes opened, and she slowly peeled herself off of the steering wheel, groaning in pain. She slowly looked around. Liam was leaning forwards, slumped against the dashboard, blood running down his face. Valkyrie kicked at the door, and it fell off. She slowly stepped out of the car. It was ruined. She walked round to the car that had hit them. It was a large black estate car, with the front end smashed. Four men, identical in features were sat inside, and when Valkyrie got close, they all disappeared. She got closer to the passenger side door, and Valkyrie realised she was clutching her head in her hands.

beep..beep..beep..beep

The noise. She'd only just realised it was there. The source was in the black car, and as she peered into the cracked window, Valkyrie saw a small brown package. A bomb. She scrambled over to Liam, and tore off the door, which was loosely hanging on. Valkyrie dragged him out of the car. He was unconscious, again. By the time the beeping sped up, they were a safe enough distance away, that when the bomb went off, Valkyrie pushed at the air to stop the shockwave and the shrapnel from hitting the two. The remains of the two cars were consumed in a fireball, and even with her blocking most of the damage, the heat enveloped Valkyrie, and she stumbled backwards. 

Valkyrie sat on the curb, with Liam laid down on the grass. She heard a moan, and looked to her left, as he tried to sit up. 

"Ow. I think.. I think my arm might be broken."

Valkyrie looked down at his arm. It made her feel sick. His arm was bent backwards, the bone sticking out at the elbow. From what she remembered, he'd rested his arm on the dashboard. She'd had broken bones before, but never that bad. It was completely snapped.

"I'd say so. Ugh."

Just thinking about having to drag him all the way to the Sanctuaryade her feel exhausted. Valkyrie pulled her phone from her pocket. Attempted exploding qualified as desperate. She phoned Skulduggery, gave him the short version, and waited for him to arrive. 

Liam, meanwhile, was flitting in and out of consciousness. As the roar of the Bentleys engine grew louder, it came into sight. Skulduggery stepped out, and assessed the situation.

"You've been having fun while I've been gone."

"Yep. Just a boatload of fun. We definitely didn't get bored, and go out once and get attacked."

He nodded, and peered over at Liam.

"That looks painful."

"It's doesn't actually hurt that much."

"Oh don't worry. It will soon."

"Thanks.. I guess."

Skulduggery walked back to the Bentley.

"Let's go. I'd rather not have another run with the mortal police."

Valkyrie helped Liam up, and slowly helped him to the car. He flopped into the back, and Valkyrie got back into the front. 

"You'd better not bleed on the leather."

Skulduggery warned Liam, as they began to drive away. The Sanctuary came into view ten minutes later, and soon enough, they were walking to the Medical Bay. Doctor Reverie Synecdoche was sat at her desk, looking both bored and unnerved. Working at the Sanctuary had that affect, especially when working near to Nye. The Crenga was good at being creepy.

Valkyrie laid Liam down on a bed, and talked to Synecdoche about his injuries. 

"His arm is broken, to say the least. He probably has a concussion, and a few other issues."

Synecdoche nodded, and went over to see Liam. When she came back ten minutes later she confirmed all of Valkyries claims.

"He's not critical, so there's no reason to worry. The arm will be fixed within a few hours. The concussion will go away soon, so it won't be long until you can take him back again."

Valkyie nodded, heading over to Liam. He looked terrible. His arm was already wrapped up, and his face was already quite heavily bruised. There were cuts all over him, and then there was internal damage. 

She didn't like to think about that. The psychological toll of nearly being murdered. Twice. She hadn't really wanted him to be part of this, but there wasn't much of a choice. If Valkyrie hadn't bothered training him, by the time they got into a proper fight, he would have most likely died.

"You said there were four identical people who suddenly vanished in the car, right?"

Valkyrie nodded, as Skulduggery came over. 

"Sounds like clones. I only know of two sorcerers who have ever been able to do that. And one is dead. So we'll be paying the other a little visit. He's a bit, socially, awkward. He shoudnt try to kill us _immediately._ "

TThat didn't fill Valkyrie with much hope, but there were no other leads. She followed Skulduggery out to the car, and left Liam alone in the Sanctuary. He'd be fine. 


	13. G

Liam sat up, and looked around. He didn't recognise the place, but knew immediately it was a hospital type place. He felt weak, and was very hungry. He heard a cough, and saw Valkyrie standing next to the bed.

"Oh thank god. You're awake."

"I was just napping."

"For two weeks? You nearly died, twice. Your heart stopped."

Liam frowned. What did she mean by that. 

"What do you mean?"

"You were in a coma."

"A.. A coma? How? We were just.."

"Yeah. Just attacked. When we got you here, from what the sensitives could tell, there was something in your head. Like that figure in your dream. It left once we found it, but that was the first day you were out. Nobody could figure out why you weren't awake. It's been two weeks."

Liam sat still, processing all of this new information.

"I've been out for two weeks? What's happened?"

"We tracked down one of the men who might have had us attacked. He could create clones. That's very rare. We suspect he's working for the big scary guy. One of the only two who can do that are dead. And the other, well, he's also dead. We found him about a week ago. It was recent. He'd done the job, and so he was killed."

Valkyrie sat at the end of the bed, and Liam looked down at his arm.

"My arms healed. Thats weird. I broke that arm when I was a kid. It took about a year to fully heal. And now it goes in two weeks." Liam laughed at the thought. This new world was crazy.

"That's what the doctors are here for. But we need to get you home. Or I guess, Skulduggerys house," Valkyrie said to Liam, as she helped him out of bed. He stumbled, and grabbed onto her desperately for support. He'd bin quite thin before, but now he was thin to the point of looking ill. Just two weeks.

"I know what you're thinking. How come you're so thin after just two weeks. Most of your energy was going into healing your injuries, and a lot went into trying to wake up. Your limited access to your magic didn't help either. So basically, while you were out, your metabolism quadrupled, so you lost any and all fat."

"I am quite hungry."

"We'll get you some food on the way back."

Liam nodded, and as they went to leave, a man walked up to them and handed Liam a package.

"A gift from Elder Bespoke," was all he said, and then the man walked briskly away.

"I was wondering when you'd be able to get that." Ghastly had appeared behind them.

"I'd have preferred to deliver it personally, but you know how these Sanctuary lot are. It should fit you still, even though you're a fair but thinner than when I took your measurements."

"I don't remember you doing that."

"No. You wouldn't. I just have to look, I'm just that good." He said, a small smug smile creeping onto his face.

"The fabric is a bit stretchier than I normally use, so it'll fit you now, and when you bulk up again. It was good seeing you Liam, while not nearly dead. Don't get into any more car crashes." Ghastly walked away.

As they got back to Skulduggerys house, Liam went into the bathroom and tried on his new clothes. They fit well, and were comfortable. He tried on the helmet and gloves and the helmet. The helmet had small eye holes, with a dark tinted plastic covering the holes. He looked in the mirror, and he looked like the he was in some type of Spec Ops group, other than the fact that he was stick thin.

As he walked out, Valkyrie looked surprised.

"They fit well. It's a bit, I guess military is the right word. You look like something out of the SAS."

"Yeah, it's cool, right?" Liams voice wasn't even muffled from the helmet. He took it off, and suddenly everything was brighter. He also took off the gloves, and flopped onto the sofa, putting the helmet and gloves down.

"So, Liam.. Liam.. Liam.." Valkyries fave scrunched up in thought. He noticed she did that while thinking.

"Holy shit! You haven't taken a name yet! You were so vulnerable in the Sanctuary, I didn't even realise." She sat on the coffee table in front of him.

"So you have any ideas? I mean, Liams a great name, but wouldn't you want something more.. Interesting?"

"I haven't really thought about it. I don't know what I'd go for though. It'd probably be really goofy." Valkyrie nodded in agreement.

"Some people genuinely regret their name. I reckon I chose a pretty good one." Liam also nodded in agreement.

"I like it. Valkyries nice, both badass, because of the whole Norse warrior women, and it sounds beautiful. If I'd named myself when I was twelve, I'd end up being something like 'blaze ultracool' or something just as shitty. Or Roger." Valkyrie laughed at that.

"But why do I even need to take a name?"

"I could've sworn I've told you. Oh well. I'll just demonstrate." Valkyrie suddenly grinned, but something was off. It wasn't her grin, usual when something funny happened. It was malicious, and Liam felt nervous.

"W.. what are you going to do?" he asked, as Valkyrie stood,

" _Liam. Stand up, and take off your clothes_."

He frowned, and just as he was about to say no, he stood up, and began taking off his clothes. Liam realised halfway through that she had just controlled him with magic. He tried to fight against it, channelling his magic into stopping the control.

It worked, just as he had his hands on his underwear, about to expose himself, Liam suddenly ripped his hands away, and stumbled backwards on his clothes that were on the floor. As he fell onto the sofa, he looked up at Valkyrie, who wasn't looking at him. She was staring off into the distance, dazed, as if she was in a trance?

"Uhh.. Valkyrie? Are you okay?" Liam asked, and Valkyrie snapped out of it, looking down at Liam, and going slightly red. He was still just in his boxers.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't, I didn't mean that. I.. I wasn't really thinking." She looked embarrassed, and Liam felt the same way.

"Don't worry. Im fine." He began putting his clothes back on, but Valkyrie didn't look away. He felt himself blush, and announced that he'd finished putting his clothes back on.

"Are you really okay Valkyrie? You seem really out of it." She looked back at Liam, and smiled, nodding.

That was a lie. 


	14. T

That was a lie. 

Valkyrie was definitely not okay. She stood in the bathroom, and looked at her gave in the mirror. This was bad. Very bad. She had felt her, almost given in. 

Darquesse. She had turned up again in Valkyries head. She'd been gone for three weeks, and even so, this time, she had influenced Valkyrie. It was scary. Valkyrie had basically done as she was told, without thought. 

And Darquesse had wanted Liam to take off his clothes. That was odd. She'd never really got any indication of Darquesse having any Sexuality. Yet, it made sense, after all, she'd called him cute. Her talking about killing him was probably some strange representation of her attraction. She was Valkyries bad mood, and probably would have some of her darker thoughts, especially sexual. Some of the repressed feelings and desires. This was very bad. 

Valkyrie splashed her face with water. 

"You can control her. You're strong. You're fine. For everyone's sake. She can't come out. Not again."

" _Why are you so adamant about me not coming out again? You love that rush of power. Just controlling your boy toy out there gave you a rush like nothing you've felt in months. Admit it. You want me to take control again. You're in denial. You want to hurt people. It's in your nature."_

 _"_ Shut up. Shut up. You don't know me. I don't want that. Stop talking." Yet despite her demands, Darquesse didn't stop whispering in her ear. This was infuriating. She left the bathroom, drowning out the annoyance with thoughts of good things. Nice things. Her family, the people she loved, mum, dad, Alice, Skulduggery, Liam.. Liam. Liam? What was he doing there? She shook her head.

"Hey. So, you wanna do anything?" She asked Liam, as she sat down on the sofa. He looked surprised.

"Didn't you just go on an adventure, and track down a bad guy?"

"Sure. But I'm bored now." In reality, she just wanted something to do, to take her mind off Darquesse talking to her. She wasn't paying attention, but the constant sound was irritating her.

"I don't know. I'm kinda tired. And Skulduggery said not to go out again."

"Oh come on. It'll be fine this time. I promise. Let's just go, okay?"

"I guess. I'm not sure." Liam kept coming up with reasons to stay there.

"Please? It'll be fun. Seriously. Let's go." She was staring to get annoyed with him.

"But.. But-"

"I said, _let's go._ " Valkyries anger got through, and she was glaring at Liam now. He looked shocked, frightened. Good. He should be frightened. After all, she was Darquesse. He had every right to be terrified of her.

Wait. No she wasn't. She wasn't Darquesse. She was Valkyrie. 

She couldn't even force a smile, and as Liam stood, she grabbed his arm, and dragged him out of the house. When Valkyrie would look at his face, he was still a little shocked, and would sneak glances at her, looking away the second they made eye contact. Damn. She'd scared him.

"I'm sorry about that. Me snapping and all that. I was just.. A little.." She couldn't come with a good enough excuse.

"That's okay. I get it." Valkyrie sighed in relief. He was fine with it. She was lucky Liam was so forgiving.

"It's been, stressful. Just, everything. I've had my word flipped upside down in the last 3 weeks, but I don't really have any worries outside of myself. You've got a family to look after. It's alright. I'd get pissed off too if I were in your situation." Liam smiled at her, and Valkyrie felt ten times worse.

She decided to make it up to him. Give him a bit of a treat. He'd been through a lot of weird stuff. Maybe if he had something normal, it would be nice. 

"Hey, I know what we should do. Go watch movie," she suggested, and waited for his reaction.

"That sounds good. Do you know what's on, because I haven't been up to date on that sort of thing for months."

Valkyrie shrugged, as if she'd know. Valkyrie herself hadn't watched a movie at the cinema for years. 

"I'm fairly certain there's a cinema near here, let's go. I don't have a car, so we'll have to walk. It's not too far. Valkyrie realised that Liams clothes might have looked weird, but was surprised to find that they didn't look too strange. He just looked like someone who'd been out camping, with an outdoor survival getup.

They reached the cinema, and got tickets to some generic rom-com. Valkyrie didn't think too much of it, but Liam was invested. Of course he was. Valkyrie was more interested in watching Liams reactions, as he laughed at every joke, looked on the verge of tears at the sad parts, and just reacted to every different emotion in the film. It was adorable.

Valkyrie felt like a guy taking his girlfriend to see a film he wasn't too interested in, just to see her happy. It was nice. Liam started reenacting scenes once they left the cinema. 

"It was so funny. I loved the part.." He kept going on about it, but Valkyrie began to drown him out. She was hungry. She knew Liam was hungry, since he kept mentioning it. There was a nice restaurant nearby she went to as a kid with her parents.

"Why don't we go to a restaurant? I'm pretty hungry." Valkyrie didn't wait for a response, and started in the direction. She was glad to see that Liam was following along. A thought randomly came into her head.

This is like a date. Wait, this pretty much is a date. 

Valkyrie ignored the thought. They were friends. Colleagues until the murderer was caught. That was it. They were just having a friendly day out. As friends. It was definitely not a date. 


	15. H

It was definitely a date. 

The fact that Valkyrie had first pestered Liam to go out, the fact that she decided to watch a movie and go to eat, two very common date activities, it was all very obvious to Liam. She was interested. He thought. 

He desperately wanted to mention it, tell her that he liked her too. But what if he was wrong, what if this was just a way of hrt not being bored. What if he was in the friend zone?

That's stupid. The friend zone doesn't exist. Don't be ridiculous. Being friends with a girl you have romantic feelings towards is fine. No problems. But what if he was?

Liam shook his head. Stop thinking about it. It doesn't matter. Anyway, if he confronted her about it, and she was just being nice, he'd seem like a major league douchebag. That wouldn't be good.

As they got to the restaurant, he saw a sign out the front. 

**'Friday is couples day. Any partners eat for half price.'**

Oh hell. They wouldn't think he and Valkyrie were a couple, would they? That would be awkward, especially when Valkyrie told them they were just friends. Liam could already imagine the faces looking at him in pity.

" _That poor boy. Stuck in the friend zone."_

Stop thinking like that damn it _._ There is no friend zone. You're getting distracted. Valkyies been talking to you for five minutes and you haven't been listening. You cretin. You fool, you idiot, you stupid mentally challenged dumbass.

As Liam continued to mentally berate himself, he began listening to Valkyrie. Thank god. She was just talking about the food. 

"I don't know what I should get. I feel like having pasta, but the chicken sounds good. In fact, I'll have both. You have any money, Liam?"

He nodded, and decided on a small burger. He wasn't actually that hungry anymore. They both ordered as the waiters arrived, and chatted while waiting. It was almost like they were a couple, just having a fun time talking about nothing in particular. Yet Valkyrie was a powerful sorcerer, and had saved the world, and Liam was a scrawny kid who couldn't even move a paperclip with wind.

He felt inferior, and couldn't stop a few resentful thoughts from popping up. He stopped them quick. That was stupid. It was pathetic. Valkyrie wasn't rubbing in the fact that she was powerful, and a hero. She was just her. If Liam felt at all invalid in comparison, that was on him. 

He had a brave idea. Maybe try on of the lines he had used on a girl in school, got her interested, only for her to reject him because, 'exam season was coming up' and also because she was going to date a different boy all throughout the exams. Great.

"So. How long have you been a girl?" It usually never failed to get a laugh, but Valkyrie just raised an eyebrow, and looked at him like he was mentally deficient, which he probably was.

She as unlike any other girl he'd ever tried to go out with at school. They weren't stupid, but they were normal. Valkyrie was smart, and witty, and definitely wouldn't be convinced be a stupid pickup line. Liam had never really met a girl like that. Although, his completely inexperience with any girl didnt help. 

"Are you still a bit sleepy? Because that was quite possibly the most brain dead thing I've ever heard. And I spend my time with a walking skeleton."

"I dunno. It sounded funny in my head."

"Well it was funny. Just the wrong kind, where you sound like a moron."

Liam sagged as she said that, his confidence crushed once again. The food was good, and as Liam got his dessert, Valkyrie stole half of it. That annoyed Liam. She'd said she didn't want any, and then stole his. Unacceptable.

"I'm in half a mind to leave right now. You stole my food. That kind of thing just doesn't fly." She laughed, and his tiny little ego was crushed, just like his confidence. Of course she didn't find him intimidating in the slightest. It was a joke, but he meant it. 

"I'll let you have half of mine the next time we do this." Valkyrie suddenly looked shocked, 

"I mean, if we do this again. I mean.. Would you want to?" Liam nodded, 

"This was fun. It was, normal. I haven't had a lot of normal lately."

They decided it was time to leave. He took a bit of money from his pocket, helped Valkyrie pay, and they left. They walked back, and Valkyrie was staggering slightly.

"Are you okay? You look.. you look drunk."

Valkyrie grinned at Liam, 

"Possibly a little. It's fine. I'm not that drunk." She demonstrated by walking off ahead. She staggered slightly, but could go in a straight line, and it looked more like she'd hurt her ankle, than being drunk. 

"See?" 

"Okay. It's not that bad. I'm going to assume that can of offbrand coke wasn't actually coke?" 

"You are correct. I do not handle my drink well, so I didn't overdo it. Just enough to get a bit of a buzz going." Valkyrie also muttered something else, which sounded to Liam like

'And to shut up dark eggs.' 

That made sense to Liam, but he didn't worry too much about it. 

As they got back to Skulduggerys house, who was still away again. Valkyrie went to the couch, and turned on the TV. She started watching some horror film, and Liam sat next to her.

"There's some ice cream in the fridge. Can you get it? I'll let you have some. I promise." Liam shrugged, and went to grab it. He brought over another spoon, and reached in to have a bit, and Valkyrie slapped his spoon away.

"I lied. Its all mine," she said, and cackled. Valkyrie almost acted like a normal person when drunk. It was strange to see. She held out her spoon, with ice cream on it. 

"Open your mouth. I've decided to be nice." 

Liam raised an eyebrow. That was the spoon she'd been using. No way was he going to eat off it. 

"That's been in your mouth. That's gross." 

"You're gross." Valkyrie mocked him, and pushed the spoon into his face.

"Don't make me control you. I'll do it." Liam paled. If drunk Valkyrie would control him, there was no telling what she'd have him do. Liam sighed, and tensed, as he ate off the spoon. Valkyrie staring at him made him blush furiously, and she pulled the spoon out. 

Then she laughed. Endlessly. 

"You actually did it!" She pointed at his red face, and Liam glowered. 

"Oh you're so embarrassed. Thats hilarious. Oh youre stupid. You've actually gone red." She continued to laugh for a few minutes. 

"You've got something there." Valkyrie pointed at Liams face, and when he went to wipe it off, she stopped him. 

"I'll get it." 

He was expecting her to suddenly whack him with a cushion, but instead she gently rubbed her thumb over his top lip. Liam felt shivers down his spine, and he reddened again. 

"Uh.. Thanks I guess." He felt awkward now, especially with Valkyrie staring at him so intensely. She grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring the ice cream that fell onto the the floor. She pulled him close, and just as Liam was about to protest, she whispered, 

"Hide." 

He was confused, was this a joke? But when she pulled away, he could see Valkyrie was dead serious her playful demeanour gone. He nodded, and got up, quickly thinking about where to hide. Liam decided on a small cubby hole he'd discovered after moving some boxes around in one of the spare rooms.

He hurried over, and squeezed himself inside, pulling the boxes back in front. He felt slightly claustrophobic in there, but at least with his skinnier body, he fit better inside.

As Liam began to debate whether or not he should get out, he heard a crash, and a man cry out. 

20 minutes later, he saw the box in front of him move, and his heart stopped. It was Valkyrie. Her face was covered with blood. It didn't look like her own. Her hands were shaking. 

"Get out. Come on. It's safe now." Her voice was unsteady, and she looked frail.

What the hell just happened? 


	16. E

Valkyrie looked down at her hands. They were covered in blood, shaking. Her face must have been too. She moved the box where she heard Liam, and saw his face. Him hiding inside the hole would have been funny, if Valkyrie was in the mood to laugh.

What the hell had happened?

As she was teasing Liam on the sofa, she heard the back door open. He was too busy being embarrassed, but she ordered him to leave. Her lack of awareness from being drunk disappeared as the adrenaline kicked in, and she crouched low. Skulduggery would never come into his own home through the backdoor.

Valkyrie was thinking to herself, an internal monologue. 'What am I going to do. Surely there won't just be one person. I am so-' a fist punched through her thought, and Valkyrie scrambled back, narrowly avoiding the punch. She cleared her thoughts, composing herself. As the man punched again, Valkyrie ducked, stepping in, and throwing a punch that would wind anyone.

The man didn't look affected, and grabbed her by the shoulders, and threw her through the coffee table. Valkyrie grabbed one of the legs, and swung it, cracking the man's leg. He cried out, and stumbled, but quickly recovered, and picked her up again. He threw her, again, and she skidded into the kitchen. He strolled in casually, and took a kitchen knife from a holder, and went to stab her. 

The knife hit Valkyries jacket, and slid off. The man dropped it, confused. She took the opportunity to send a kick to his gut, pushing him off. Then she followed it up with a kick between the legs, and that hurt him, but only momentarily. All it really did was piss him off.

He wrapped his hands around her throat, pushing her back onto the floor. She panicked, the man overpowering her entirely. She couldn't get purchase, and flailed. Valkyrie then began to push her thumbs into his eyes, to get him to stop, yet he kept going, and she felt her strength begin to fade. She pushed harder, and he screamed, but didn't stop. 

She felt sick. He'd just been blinded, but wouldn't stop. She flailed again, and felt her hand touch the knife. Valkyrie did something she'd regret. 

She pressed the knife up against his throat, and croaked, 

"Stop."

He didn't, the man pressed harder, but Valkyrie kept her resolve, keeping the knife pressed against his throat, when he leaned forward, into the knife, the blade slicing into his throat. Soon, the entire blade was embedded in his neck, and his grip weakened. Blood poured out of the wound, onto Valkyrie. She was crying, and felt the man go limp, collapsing on top of her.

She'd just killed a man. Sure, Darquesse had killed people, but this was Valkyrie. It wasn't her fault though. He didn't stop. But she did it. She killed him.

Valkyrie staggered into the spare room, and heard Liam breathing heavily. She kicked the boxes away, and there he was. 

"Get out. It's safe now. Come on." And as Liam left, she stared at his face, a mixture of shock, horror, disgust and concern. 

She collapsed onto her knees, and broke down. Liam knelt down, and comforted her as best he could.

Valkyrie shook violently, sobbing into his shoulder as Liam wrapped his arms around her.

She practically fell onto him, gripping Liam tightly, like he was her lifeline. Eventually, she calmed enough to pull away, and wiped her face, just getting more blood on her hands. Half of Liams face was covered in blood, but he didn't seem to mind. 

She felt him slowly help her to her feet, and they went to the bathroom. He sat her down on the toilet, and began to wash her face silently. By the end, there was only a small but of blood on her, but Valkyrie clothes, other than from Ghastly, were ruined.

"Can you.. not look." Valkyrie wanted a shower, and Liam must have realised this, because he turned, and sat starting at a wall the entire time she took off her clothes. Now normally, she'd have told him to get the hell out. But Valkyrie didn't know if she could cope being on her own.

She stepped in, and felt the hot water on her skin. She felt better already. Christ. It had gone to shit very quickly. She calmed her thoughts, and by the time she was out of the shower, Valkyrie was back to normal. Her heart was still pounding, and the adrenaline was still flowing. She was going to crash, hard. 

Once she had wrapped a towel around herself, she opened the door to leave.

"I'm decent." And Liam took that as his cue to turn back around. He got up, and smiled at her, trying to be reassuring.

"What are we going to do, with the body?" Liam asked. Valkyrie stepped back into her room, and grabbed some spare clothes. Liam didn't follow her in and she got changed.

"I'm not sure. Dragging out a body will be a very bad idea. Maybe we should call Skulduggery." Liam shook his head.

"I tried while you were showering. He didn't pick up. I texted him, but something tells me he's occupied elsewhere. I think, for now, it's best we just tuck it away somewhere."

Valkyrie made a face. She didn't like that idea, sharing a house with a corpse.

" _A corpse that you killed. I always knew you had it in you. The first is always the hardest._ "

"Shut up. I don't need you talking to me now."

Liam looked at her, his eyebrows raised. She'd said that out loud. Damn.

"Uhh.. I was just talking to myself."

"You must be having quite the heated discussion. I'll leave you to it. I, Uhh, I'm gonna go sort out the body. Maybe you should stay here."

"No way. How do you think you'll react to seeing a dead person? Have you ever seen a corpse?" She was incredulous that he could offer so nonchalantly.

"Yes. My parents, remember? I'll be fine. You need rest." Valkyrie sagged as he mentioned that.

"I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay. A lots happened. I forget sometimes." He walked off into the kitchen, and Valkyrie was expecting to hear gagging, then vomiting, but it was silent.

Weird. 


	17. F

Liam stepped into the kitchen. Good lord. That was a lot of blood. Hours spent scrolling though some pretty fucked up stuff online had somewhat desensitised him to gore. It was surreal, seeing a body up close and personal. It stunk. 

He saw the knife, and quickly figured out what happened. He'd pinned Valkyrie, and she'd had to use the knife. Her fingerprints would be on it. Liam searched the cupboards, and found washing up gloves. They'd do. He carefully took the corpses hand, and made it grip around the knife handle. That's one problem solved. 

There wasn't really any way to stop the blood from smearing, so Liam took a massive piece of paper towel, and mopped up the worst of the blood he could. Then he dragged the body. That was not fun. The man was large, and heavy. The hole Liam had hid in would do. He pushed aside the boxes, but hesitated it would stink soon enough. Was there anything around that he could wrap the body in?

Liam found a big black bin bag, and managed to get the body inside. He tied up the top, got some duct tape and taped it, then found an air freshener, and shoved it all into the hole. After he was done, Liam got a mop and started on the floor. It took a whole, but by the time he'd finished, nobody would know there was ever a body.

'A good job well done' he thought to himself. Next time, it wouldn't take so long.

Next time? What the hell was he talking about? Liam shook his head, realising what had just happened. He'd cleaned a crime scene, dragged a body, and hidden it. But it felt like he'd done this before, and that concerned him.

He walked back to Valkyrie, after disposing of the ruined gloves and mop.

"It's uh.. Its done." He felt a lot less confident than 5 minutes ago. He wiped his forehead, and realised he had blood on his face. It was now in his hands. He visibly recoiled, and looked disgusted.

"What's wrong with you? Suddenly you're all quiet and freaked out. You literally just cleaned up a dead body, " Valkyrie questioned him. Liam must have looked on the verge of tears, because her tone softened considerably.

"Are you sure you're okay? Something is wrong."

"I don't know. I.. It felt like I'd done that before. I was having these thoughts, like how next time I'd be quicker. Why would there be a next time?" He was on the cusp of hysterics, and Valkyrie grabbed his hand, calming him down.

"I don't understand, but it's okay. You're not a bad person. Maybe you've watched too much CSI?" Liam shook his head, and went back into the kitchen. Valkyrie followed, and looked around.

Liam started washing his face in the sink, then took off his jacket, and saw the blood that had ran down his chest. He took off the shirt underneath as well, and started wiping it off. 

He looked around to see Valkyrie staring, and reddened.

"What? Why are you drooling? I'm not that good looking, am I?"

She laughed nervously. That didn't fill him with much confidence. He looked in the mirror on a wall. He wasn't much to look at. Maybe before, when he wasnt a literal stick, it would have made sense her looking. 

He put his shirt back on, and yawned. It had been a long day. Liam went to bed, as Valkyrie locked the house up. The back door had been open, the symbols deactivated. That was bad. He didn't worry too much, and got into bed. Just as he remembered that it was Valkyries bed, she slipped in next to him.

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in close. He hugged back eventually, appreciating the comfort. She buried her head into his neck, and he heard her breathing in and out, as she fell asleep.

Liam soon drifted off too.

He woke up, still clung onto Valkyrie, who was also hugging him back. Liam didn't try to get free, he just snuggled into her. She was warm, and safe. He heard her groans, and she opened her eyes. She saw him, and rather than blush or get mad, she just smirked. 

Liam blushed in her stead, but didn't let go. She didn't either. They stayed in each others embrace for about half an hour. Eventually, Valkyrie got up, and Liam complained. He grabbed her leg, and she fell. Liam laughed. 

Valkyrie got up, and turned, looking very angry. Liam paled, and swallowed nervously. 

"I'm sorry."

"You will be."

He shrieked, as she dived on top of him, and grabbed a pillow, smacking him in the face repeatedly. Even after Liam yielded, she kept hitting him. They were both laughing manically, and Valkyrie put the pillow down. She was still straddling Liam, and they locked eyes. For a moment, he thought they were about to kiss, and his heart started racing. 

The she whacked him again, and got up. Liam followed her soon after, and had breakfast. The atmosphere darkened the second they were in the kitchen. They were running out of food.

"Maybe we should go buy some more food. I'm gonna be starving soon." He saw Valkyrie nod, and they got ready to go.

As they were walking down the street, they got to a busy corner, and Liam felt a hand brush his shoulder. He turned, but didn't see anyone. As he turned back, he suddenly felt dizzy. It was like he had a migraine, and then he collapsed. Before he could hit the floor, everything went black. 

And then he was sitting on the floor. He threw up, feeling like he'd just got off a roller-coaster. He looked around. It was still Dublin, same as ever, yet on wherever normal ads were before, it was pictures of Valkyrie. 

He heard a man approach him, turned, and the man bowed. 

"The Queen has summoned you, M'lord."

Liam frowned. Where was he? 


	18. A

Where was he?

Valkyrie had just been walking to the shops with Liam, when he fell over. Then he disappeared. She looked around for a minute in panic, and then had a realisation. This made her panic even more.

He'd been shunted. Fuck. 

This was bad. This was very bad. Who knew where he'd gone. He was most likely dead already. But he couldn't be. The vision had been his, he was the focus. No way could he die yet.

She focused on that, and went back to Skulduggerys house. When she got back, the Bentley was parked outside. She walked in, and Skulduggery was stood, clearly waiting for her.

"I know you're an adult now, so I can't really tell you what to do so much, but I'd prefer you didn't hide dead bodies in my house."

Valkheie paled, of course he'd find the body immediately.

"It was an accident, okay? He broke in, I fought him, I didn't mean to kill him. He just sort of.. didn't stop. We tried contacting you, but you weren't picking up."

"I was doing some more detective work."

"Can you stop being so damn cryptic? Just tell me what the hell has been happening that was so important that your friend and partner nearly died because you were too busy?"

"Is Liam here?" he asked.

"No. I think he got shunted."

"Thats probably for the best." Valkyrie gasped,

"What do you mean? Why.. why?" She as lost for words.

"I had my suspicions the first time we met. I knew I recognised him. I did a little digging, and figured out why his 'parents', were assassinated. It's all been a cover up by the previous Sanctuary. You'd best sit down."

Valkyrie remained standing. 

"Explain."

"Liam Scott, isn't really Liam Scott. You remember Ryan?" She nodded,

"Well this is a similar situation. It's slightly different though. Rather than being a misguided idiot, he's a serial killer. He fought for Mevolent during the war, and went on a series of killings for years afterwards. They caught him, and rather than sending him to gaol, they tried something else. An experimental trial, if you will. Rather than changing his personality, they erased his memories, implanted new ones, and blocked off all knowledge of magic. What I don't understand is how he has continued to look 17 for 80 years. Either way, he was sent with two Sanctuary agents to live with. He'd been there for 50 years. Every year they'd reset him. So he lived as 17 for 50 years. The thing that I never got, was why they didn't just lock him up. Then I did more digging. He actually hadn't killed anyone, nor intentionally. The first was an accident. He was messing around with friend, and scared him. The friend fell onto train tracks, and died. Liam was blamed, and sentenced with murder. So, he ran, believing he was innocent. They Sanctuary agents chasing him accidentally cause more deaths, and blamed it on him. He was actually innocent, but was sentenced either way. It was all a cover up. He hadnt even fought in the war. He wasn't born then, but very few people knew him personally. He was caught, and this has been his life for 5p years, until us. If his memories revert themselves, he might be angry. Dangerous. I'd like to make sure that doesn't happen."

Valkyrie sat. She was shocked. Lost for words. It made sense, of course it did. But for now, it didn't matter to her. She liked Liam, and he was in danger. 

" I don't care Skulduggery. I like Liam, and he's in danger. We need to get him back. Whatever it takes. I don't care if he's a threat, I'm a threat too. We'll be fine."

"I'm not going to argue the point. Finding a shunter will be tricky. Finding the right dimension will also be tricky. Oh well."

"So what's our first move?"

"Find a shunter that's not a criminal and doesn't want me dead."

"Thats not a whole lot." 

"I know. So many criminals. Anyway, there is one I can think of. But he's currently residing in an isolated town in Northern Siberia. So Fletcher won't be of any help today."

Valkyrie sighed. That meant she had to travel properly. This was going to be fun. 


End file.
